For many years since the advent of the electric light bulb, it has been popular during the Christmas Holiday season to hang and erect strands of electric lights for both interior and exterior display. Though they can vary, light strands often comprise many rather small light bulbs which are serially connected via electrically conductive wire. During the Christmas Holiday season as well as at other appropriate times such as Halloween, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, or even year-round, light strands are often arranged or otherwise attached to houses, trees, or other structures. As such, when the term “Christmas light” is used to the describe the invention herein, it is not intended to be limited only to light displays and light strands in use during the Christmas season; rather, the term refers to the broad category of light strand displays encompassing a variety of uses.
Unfortunately, under the current state of the art, the erection and display of light strands is also accompanied by several hardships placed upon the installer or owner of the display. First, light strand installation is often a rather unwieldy process. Typically, light strands are highly flexible and tend to only stay in place via some means of attachment by the installer. Without such means, the installer has difficulty arranging the strands to follow a desired form.
The means of attachment often employed by light strand installers described above represents a second problem currently associated with the art. Specifically, light strand attachment means are often destructive. This destructive nature derives from the unwieldy nature of the light strands described above coupled with the desire that the installation be only temporary. Because light strand installation is by its nature a temporary, yet annually recurring event, residual display markings from year to year will remain and compound over time. For instance, adhesive tape leaves residue just as nails or staples leave holes.
Perhaps the most undesirable aspect of light strand installation and display is the large amount of time associated with seasonal removal. The uninstaller of light strand displays must generally climb a ladder to reach top points of attachment and then manually detach each strand at each point of attachment. In order to achieve the desired positioning of lights, the strand is often attached in many places over its length. The attachments are direct between the strand and the surface of the fixture, building, or tree. This process is encumbered further by the necessity of unwinding the strand as the removal proceeds.
Thus, there exists a need in the art for a more efficient system of Christmas Light display.